Alberico Gentili

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Alberico Gentili.

Alberico Gentili (Latin Albericus Gentilis ; born January 14, 1552 in San Ginesio , † June 19, 1608 in London ) was an Italian lawyer, royal professor ( Regius Professor of Civil Law ) for civil law at Oxford University and author in the field of international law .

Life and family

St. Helen Bishopsgate, the Gentilis Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Alberico Gentili was born to wealthy parents in San Ginesio in 1552 ; his father Matteo Gentili was a doctor in Perugia. He studied at the University of Perugia and obtained a doctorate in law in 1572 . In 1572 he was commissioned by the city elders of his hometown to revise the city law, which he completed in 1577. Two years later, because of his Protestant faith, he had to flee Italy with his father and brother Scipione Gentili . The family first went to Ljubljana , then Laibach, where the father settled down as a city physician. The efforts of the Inquisition meant that the family also had to leave the Duchy of Carniola .

From there, Alberico Gentili went to Tübingen and Heidelberg before finally arriving in England in 1580. Via London he came to Oxford, where he stayed at Christ Church College . From 1581 he taught at St John's College . His father followed him to England and practiced in London. In 1587 Robert Dudley , the then rector of Oxford University , appointed him Regius Professor of Civil Law. In 1586, Alberico Gentili accompanied Horatio Pallavicino to the Elector of Saxony and took part in a disputation held by his younger brother Scipione Gentili in Wittenberg . After this brief stay in Wittenberg, he returned to Oxford.

Alberico Gentili held the Regius Professorship until his death, although he made a name for himself as a lawyer from 1590 and lived mainly in London. From this point on he worked at the High Court of Admiralty and became a member of Gray's Inn in 1600 . From 1605 to 1608 he worked as a lawyer for the Spanish embassy. His friends included Francis Walsingham , who played a role in the Ridolfi Conspiracy , as well as Philip Sidney , Henry Wotton , Thomas Bodley and Henry Savile .

Alberico Gentili died in London in 1608 and was buried in the Church of Saint Helen's Bishopsgate in London. His son Robert Gentilis attended Oxford University. He graduated at the age of twelve and was made a Fellow at All Souls College at just seventeen .

Act

In titulum Digestorum De verborum significatione commentarius , 1614

Alberico Gentili wrote more than 20 books on subjects of law, such as canon law , casuistry , and witchcraft, as well as theology and literary studies ( Bible exegesis .) He had a reputation as a strict scholar and was nicknamed Italus Atheus .

In 1582 he published the work De Juris Interpretibus Dialogi Sex . In this book he confessed to the interpretative methods of Bartolus de Saxoferrato and turned against the methods of the jurists of French humanism such as Jacques Cujas . Alberico Gentili's first book, which dealt with issues of international law , appeared in 1582 under the title De Legationibus Libri Tres . The impetus for this was the case of the Spanish ambassador Bernardino de Mendoza , who was to be punished for his involvement in the Throckmorton conspiracy . The English government had asked Alberico Gentili and Jean Hotman for advice on this matter. Both recommended the expulsion of the Spaniard.

In 1589 Gentili De Jure Belli published Commentationes Tres . This book is considered to be his main work and a standard work of international law. After his death, Scipione Gentili published a collection of notes from cases Gentili had worked on. Alberico Gentili's influence can be felt in the writings of John Selden and Hugo Grotius , who took up many of Gentili's themes and ideas for his De jure belli in pacis .

Legacies

The work De Jure Belli ac Pacis by Hugo Grotius , published in 1625 , was essentially based on the findings of Alberico Gentilis. In the 19th century, the work of Alberico Gentili experienced a renaissance. Sir Thomas Erskine Holland dedicated his inaugural lecture to him as Professor of International Law at Oxford University. Since then, numerous books on Gentili's life and work have been published. A memorial was erected in his hometown in his honor.

Editions and translations

  • Hispanicae Advocationis Libri Duo. Text and translation by Frank Frost Abbott . New York 1921.
  • De Legationibus Libri Tres. With an introduction by Ernest Nys . New York 1924.
  • De Iure Belli Libri Tres. Two volumes. Text and translation by John Rolfe. Oxford 1933.
  • De Iuris Interpretibus Dialogi Sex. Edited by Guido Astuti. Turin 1937.
  • Benedict Kingsbury, Benjamin Straumann, David Lupher (Eds.): Alberico Gentili: The Wars of the Romans. A Critical Edition and Translation of De armis Romanis. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-960051-9

literature

  • William Holdsworth: A History of English Law . Vol. 6, London 1924. pp. 52-54.
  • Diego Panizza: Alberico Gentili, giurista ideologo nell'Inghilterra elisabettiana . La Garangola, Padova 1981.
  • Angela De Benedictis:  Gentili, Alberico. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 53:  Gelati – Ghisalberti. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1999, pp. 245-251.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Herbert Jaumann (2004) Bio-bibliographical repertory ; Walter de Gruyter; on google books; accessed on April 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ Simon Adams (ed.): Household Accounts and Disbursement Books of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester Cambridge UP 1995 ISBN 0521551560 p. 212


personal data
SURNAME Gentili, Alberico
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1552
PLACE OF BIRTH San Ginesio
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1608
Place of death London